Fiber Channel is a high speed networking technology used to connect devices in storage area networks (SANs). Endpoint devices in a Fiber Channel network communicate with each other via fabrics. Fiber Channel fabrics are made up of one or more switches. Each fabric and each device in the Fiber Channel Network may be uniquely identified by a world wide name (WWN). Once an endpoint device logs in to a fabric, the WWN of the fabric remains the same for the connection between the endpoint device and the fabric to persist. The fabric does not change names (e.g., does not change from a first WWN to a second WWN) while providing services without interrupting the connection.
WWNs are typically associated with a physical resource, and a fabric may be made up of multiple physical resources. Typically, one of the physical resources provides the fabric WWNs for all components of the fabric. If the resource that provides the fabric WWNs is removed from a configuration, the WWNs may no longer be valid. Therefore, removing the resource that provides fabric WWNs may involve taking down all of the connections to the fabric and forcing each of the endpoint devices to discover and log in to the fabric with a new WWN.